Successful Practices & Strategies Vol. 1 | No. 4

Galax Police Department

Galax, Virginia

https://www.facebook.com/GalaxPD

Community policing element

Organizational change

Problem/issue

Police response to specific populations

Problem description

The City of Galax is one of three localities in Virginia with a verified presence of organized drug cartels. 

The city was also identified in the 2000 census as experiencing the largest growth of Hispanic population 

(per capita) in Virginia. 

The language barrier was a major hindrance; there was no one on city staff who was bilingual. There are 

three distinctly Hispanic neighborhoods in the City of Galax, and the school population approaches 30% 

each year. The Galax Police Department (GPD) was confident that crime was under reported in those 

communities. It attributed that to the language barrier and the cultural mistrust of the police. That 

population was not being served.

Community policing strategies implemented

The COPS Office funded the hiring of one bilingual police office. The GPD recruited from among the 

Hispanic community in the City of Galax and made a conditional offer of employment to a Galax native 

of Mexican heritage who lived within one of the predominantly Hispanic communities. The GPD believed 

that Sir Robert Peel was correct when he stated that the “ability of the police to perform their duties is 

dependent upon public approval of police action” and that the “police must secure the willing cooperation of the public.” 

During this bilingual officer’s field training period, he was required to contact citizens door to door and 

ask three questions: 

1. What are the problems of this neighborhood?

2. What can the police do to make things better?

3. What are you willing to help the police do to make this a better neighborhood?

The responses were used to tabulate the GPD’s response to these communities. 
2 

The successes of the program are best summarized by the following incident, which exhibits the trust 

and acceptance the bilingual officer has built in the community: While this officer was assisting a 

neighboring agency and the FBI with a missing child case, he had translated during the initial interviews 

with no success. However, when the officers had left, he was contacted by a member of the community 

who shared the runaway child’s location, where she was discovered. 

The bilingual officer serves as a liaison between city government in all departments and the Hispanic 

community. He has assisted public works, social services, probation and parole, and mental health. He 

has also been instrumental in building trust between the police and Hispanic community and winning 

their approval. He has developed sources of information that were impossible prior to his employment.

The position re-enforces the premise that crime prevention is a community-police partnership.

Change and/or impact as a result of these community policing efforts

The city has benefited overall from the bilingual officer. While it may seem insignificant that he has been 

able to explain that it is not okay to turn water on before citizens pay for it, he has also explained the 

expectations of American society in regards to child care via social services. 

The bilingual officer translates routinely for detectives in interrogations and interviews. It would have 

been impossible to adequately address complaints from the Hispanic community prior to his arrival. 

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services mandates cultural diversity training for police 

personnel in Virginia. This bilingual officer has enabled members of the GPD to better understand the 

cultural nuances that it had misinterpreted prior to his employment.

Lessons learned through program implementation

When the agency advertised the position, it inadvertently ended up with an applicant pool that was 

totally Hispanic and had ties to this community. It has become apparent that hiring someone from this 

community was more important than the GPD originally thought. It is a cliché, but law enforcement 

agencies cannot practice community policing without a sense of community. The lesson was that if it’s at 

all possible, hire from within the community.

The GPD has expended funds and time to instruct police officers in conversational language skills with 

varying levels of success. The lesson was that there is no substitute for a truly conversational police 

officer with an ability to fluently converse with the community.

The most important lesson is that if an agency is committed to the principles of community policing, that 

every effort must be made to effectively communicate. Without communication, there can be no 

problem analysis, no problem solving, no facilitation, and no conflict resolution between diverse 

cultures.
3 

The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an 

endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement 

discussion of the issues. 

The Internet references cited in this document were valid as of the date of publication. Given that URLs and websites are in 

constant flux, neither the author(s) nor the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services can vouch for their current validity. 

Published 2014